Hyundai Genesis

What It Is: The next generation of Hyundai's luxury sedan, which is being designed to take on the competition not just in the U.S. and Asia, but in Europe, too. The new Genesis sedan will sport Hyundai's Fluidic Sculpture styling language: Even though the example caught by our spy photographers at Hyundai's Rüsselsheim, Germany, R&D center is heavily camouflaged, the sculpted flanks and coupe-like roofline are clearly visible. The second-generation Genesis sedan will brim with new tech features, such as full LED headlights and a number of assistance systems. The Genesis coupe, by the way, will carry on in its current form for at least another two years.

Why It Matters: The outgoing Genesis sedan is a car that was designed with Asia and North America in mind. Its conservative design failed to excite, and the handling was merely adequate. (A last-minute increase in price ahead of its 2008 introduction didn’t do the car’s launch momentum any favors, either.) For the next Genesis, Hyundai is aiming to be globally competitive, which means the car will be sportier and far more performance-oriented. Even though the U.S. will prove to be the luxury mid-sizer’s most important market, the brand's European R&D operations played a strong role in the development process.

The next Genesis also is significant from a styling point of view. With its sleek lines that evoke the more compact European-market Hyundai i40, this could be first Hyundai in years that looks better than its Kia sibling, the derivative-looking K9/Quoris. Previewing the changes in sheetmetal will be Hyundai’s HCD-14 Genesis concept, which is set to be revealed at the 2013 Detroit auto show.

Platform: The next-generation Genesis sedan will use an evolution of its current platform, a rear-wheel-drive architecture that can be modified to accommodate all-wheel drive. This platform is shared with the slow-selling Equus, as well as the Kia K9/Quoris. We expect the Genesis to receive far sportier tuning than in past models—Hyundai is serious about targeting Audi and BMW.

Powertrains: The Genesis will continue to offer the 3.8-liter V-6 Lambda and 5.0-liter V-8 Tau engines. Output likely will remain close to what’s produced by today’s Genesis—333 horsepower from the V-6 and 429 from the V-8. The European market will be offered a four-cylinder diesel that produces 220 horsepower, and a diesel hybrid using the same mill is a possibility.

Competition: Acura RLX, Audi A6, BMW 5-series, Cadillac XTS, Lexus GS, Mercedes-Benz E-class.

Estimated Arrival and Price: After being revealed in concept form in early January, the production-ready Genesis is likely to be available beginning in late 2013 as a 2014 model. The base price should remain very near today’s $35,095.

Hyundai Santa Fe Sport

The five-passenger Hyundai Sonata wagon—er, Santa Fe—is Hyundai’s ticket to the bountiful buffet of the crossover market that represents much of?America’s current car spending. And like its many, many competitors, the Sonata-based Santa Fe can be moved upscale PDQ from its $25,275 base price.

Just by checking one box for the Technology package ($2700) that includes an eight-inch navigation screen, a sunroof, and a heated steering wheel, you are also loaded down with an additional $3900 in required options. Go ahead, splurge! You can identify the cheapskates because they don’t have an electroluminescent gauge cluster, heated rear seats, or premium doorsill plates on their Santa Fes.

Even with regular doorsill plates, the new Santa Fe draws the eye. Shaped like a robot’s ski boot, it is stocky, glaring, and masculine, traits that crossovers aren’t always known for. Obviously, Hyundai would like some men to get in the queue as well for its cute ute.

Americans long ago junked their Country Squires for SUVs, but they never lost their taste for luxury gloss. The Santa Fe goes after them with a fussed-over cabin that looks expensive. Seemingly all of the metals on the periodic table are represented by various bits of plastic trim as the dash arcs grandly over the legs of the driver and front-seat passenger. At the center, columns sprout down from the panel to create an architectural void into which people can toss their clutter.
It’s not a dashboard, it’s a Lucasfilm production. Heck, every window switch looks like it has four part numbers. But the Santa Fe interior mostly works ergonomically. Where it fails taller people is in the inadequate reach of the telescoping steering column. Sitting too close means knees bang the dash. And the navigation’s obligatory legal disclaimer won’t go away if you ignore it, as it does now, blessedly, on many cars.



A longer, three-row, V-6–powered Santa Fe GLS is coming, but even the short-wheelbase Santa Fe Sport is large for its segment, with lots of legroom in back and up to 72 cubic feet of cargo space behind the front seats. Convenient handles in the cargo area release the seatbacks of the second row, which fold almost-but-not-quite flat, assuming you have either removed the headrests or slid the front seats forward a little. A wide chasm between the rear-wheel humps means that we were able to slide in an antique china cabinet with room to spare.

The cabin remains quiet, so you can use your inside voice during Bluetooth calls. The base engine—the 190-hp 2.4-liter direct-injected four-cylinder (a 264-hp turbo 2.0-liter is also offered)—does its work with an anodyne efficiency. Aided by the six-speed automatic, it keeps the 3726 pounds moving just at the speed of sanity. With a 0-to-60-mph time of 8.6 seconds, the nonturbo Santa Fe doesn’t do emergencies, ­however. If?you press for speed, you’ll see mileage drop; we averaged 22 mpg, 1 mpg above the city EPA rating.

After weathering criticism for its slovenly dynamics, Hyundai touts the Santa Fe as a step forward. We weren’t overly impressed, nor were we disappointed. The chassis and steering supply a solid feeling of control while largely absorbing the highway’s imperfections, and that’s about all we ask of a crossover. Even Mazda’s CX-5 isn’t hugely more fun to steer.

So the Santa Fe scores par in dynamics and a birdie in refinement and utility. Just be prepared to dish it out for the extras.

Hyundai Elantra Coupe SE

Easy on the eye, easy on the wallet, the coupe version of the Elantra dishes out a pretty good trip down easy street. Hyundai hasn’t done an Elantra coupe before, so if you wanted a personalized two-door from this Korean maker, their Genesis coupe was the only model available. But opting for a Genesis meant spending more ($24,250 – $34,250), fueling more (21 MPG City/30 MPG Highway), and giving up front-wheel-drive traction for rear wheel-drive fun. The new Elantra two-door checks in at a base price of $20,745 ($23,965 loaded with $2,350 woth of Navigation), posts significantly better mileage figures than the Genesis (27 MPG City/37 MPG Highway), and powers the front wheels rather than the rears. And despite the fact that it offers only 2 doors, they open wide enough to make access to the back seat easy. Since that back seat folds flat, this diminutive, 2,661 lb. coupe totes baggage as well as 4 passengers.

The SE shares many of the same facial features as the redesigned Genesis coupe. The smile of the grill, the sparkle of the headlight jewelry, the rising character line from front to rear are Hyundai-specific styling cues that distinguish the brand. The Elantra is handsome in a fresh-faced, breezy Abercrombie sort of way. It will appeal to style-conscious first time buyers who want to look sporty without paying a price in ride discomfort or lack of practicality. Given the coupe’s modest power output of 148hp, however, you’ll soon discover that the SE looks a lot more sporty than it behaves.

Our test car’s standard 6-speed automatic SHIFTRONIC gearbox offers fully automated shifting, plus manual gear selection through the console-mounted stick. Hyundai does not provide steering wheel paddles for this chore. The manual shift provision is useful only to a point: no matter what gear you’ve selected, the SHIFTRONIC will automatically upshift to the next higher gear at 5,500rpm. It does so despite the fact that engine redline begins at 6,700rpm. Even so, you’ll want to avail yourself of manual gearbox operation to extract maximum oomph from the 1.8 liter inline 4. The premium suspension and tire fitment beg for more engine vitality. Hyundai has selected sporting spring and swaybar dimensions for the coupe, and fitted 215/45R17 Hankook Optimo tires on striking split spoke alloy wheels. But you’ll rarely put this vibrant combination to the test due to power limitations under the hood.

Inside the roomy cabin, the coupe looks more expensive than competitors’ products like the Honda Civic and Nissan Sentra. The perforated seating surfaces are made from leather and standard fitment. The front passenger seat is ingeniously designed to slide and tilt forward when a latch on its back is released. This enhances back seat entry/exit. A B-pillar mounted front seatbelt retainer folds out of the way as well. Hyundai engineers have clearly devoted themselves to the human dynamics of loading and unloading this coupe’s back seat. The low roofline, however, limits rear occupants to 5’8” in height.

You would expect to find a few rough edges in a car of this price class, and the SE doesn’t disappoint in this regard. The multi-function steering wheel includes spoke-mounted buttons to control voice activation of the standard 360 watt Infotainment system plus cruise control. The inner edges of these buttons are so sharp they will snag your hand when touched. Likewise, the tail lamps on the rear fascia harbor knifelike edges when the trunk is open. An examination under the trunk mat reveals an aerosol flat fix bottle but no spare tire.

Despite these minor sins of omission and quality, the Elantra coupe is a solid bargain in this price range, and would make an excellent first car for a anyone leery of spending much time at a gas station.

Review Hyundai Sonata

It's been a couple of years since the mid-size Hyundai Sonata went through such an extreme transformation that it could have been marked by a name change. The smooth, rakish, daring design makeover that the Sonata received for 2011 (in sharp contrast to the staid wallflower it had been before) still turns heads—and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the 2013 Sonata has a lot going for it, as we see elements of its trend-setting 'fluidic design' emerging in rival models. 

That design transformation was marked by some equally extreme engineering rehabilitation that simply kicked the Sonata up into another league. With a new lineup of only direct-injection four-cylinder engines—combined with a lighter body structure—the Sonata performs as well as the V-6 versions of some mid-size sedans, all while getting up to 35 mpg in base form or up to 33 mpg highway with the upscale Turbo model. Most Sonatas come with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, making up to 200 horsepower, with a six-speed automatic transmission. The automatic is perfectly appropriate for the class, and is a responsive, seamless gearchanger. Step up to the 2.0T model and you get a somewhat smaller 2.0-liter engine with a twin-scroll turbocharger, providing 274 horsepower. Its 269 lb-ft arrives low in the power band, which thankfully helps this engine work very well with the automatic transmission (the only way to get it). And it mostly skips the turbo lag completely, and succeeds as the more economical parallel to upscale V-6 models.

Review Hyundai Veloster

The 2012 Hyundai Veloster is a hatchback with a three-door design -- two front doors and a rear passenger-side door -- which gives it the look of a sporty coupe and the function of a sedan with the added utility of a hatchback.

It has a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine with dual continuously variable valve timing under the hood that gets 138 horsepower. The Veloster gets an estimated 28 mpg city, 40 mpg highway and 32 mpg combined with the six-speed manual transmission. An optional six-speed EcoShift dual-clutch transmission with shift paddles alters the fuel efficiency to 29 mpg city, 38 mpg highway and 32 mpg combined. The automatic lacks a bit in acceleration compared to other models on the list, reaching 60 mph in about 10.2 seconds, according to Edmunds, but it makes up for lackluster pickup with sporty handling.

On the Veloster, you'll find antilock disc brakes, stability control, traction control and six air bags as standard safety features. Standard performance items include 17-inch alloy wheels, sport-tuned suspension and an active eco system (a system that automatically improves fuel economy).